The Big Issue - UK (2020-03-02)

22 | BIGISSUE.COM 02-08 MARCH 2020

Thisinhospitablebutbreathtakinglandscapeishometotheultimate

storagesolutiondesignedtosafeguardtheseedsoftheworld’smost

importantcrops.

Constructedin 2008 andrunasa jointinitiativebetweenNorway’s

MinistryofAgriculture,theCropTrustandtheNordicGeneticResource

Centre(NordGen),theVaultisusedbygenebanks,governments,

universitiesandresearchfacilitiesfromeverycontinent.Iftheirown

collectionsarecompromised,if thereismasscropfailureduetodisease,

iffoodsupplychainsaredisruptedbyconflict–orshouldtherebeany

otherdoomsdayscenariofromzombieapocalypsetoasteroidimpact–the

GlobalSeedVaultcouldbehumanity’sbesthopeforsurvival.

Stored 130 metresdeepinsidea mountainaremorethana million

frozenseeds,keptata chilled-18C.Theyrepresentmorethan5,000plant

specieswithmanymorevarietiesofeach(forexample40,000typesof

bean,156,000kindsofwheat).

Svalbardwaschosenastheperfectlocationbecauseitscoldclimate

meansthatevenif powerfails,seedsshouldbekeptfrozenbythe

surroundingpermafrost.Itsremotenessalsomakesitespeciallysecure.

ThecomplexisprotectedbytheNorwegiangovernmentagencyStatsbygg

andanytrespassersmightalsohavetocontendwithSvalbard’spopulation

ofpolarbears,whichoutnumberhumanresidents.Althoughtheytendto

keepfarawayfrom this part of Svalbard, pawprints have been found nearby

in the past.

“Youneverknow...”warnsÅsmundAsdal.

IftheGlobalSeedVaultisanarktopreservelifeonEarththen

ÅsmundAsdalisitsNoah.

SeedVaultCo-ordinatorsince2015,Asdalismatter-of-factin

thewayyou’dwantthepotentialsaviourofthehumanracetobe.

“It'slikea blackbox,”hesaysabouttheSeedVault’srole.“Oneof

thethingsyoushoulddoif youhavesomevaluablepapersishave

a copy.Genebankshaveseedcollectionsthatareveryvaluable

butvulnerableif theyareonlyinoneplace.Forsecuritytheykeep

copiesinSvalbard.”

Newdepositsaremadeuptosixtimesannually,witharound

fourtosixnewgenebanksaddingtotheprojecteachyear.

“Weareintouchwithgenebanksallovertheworld,”Asdal

explains.“Wegivethemtheinformationtheyneed.Weinform

themaboutoptionsfordepositingseeds.Weorganisethe

agreementsandformalprocedures.Weorganisetheshipmentof

seedsfromthegenebankstoSvalbardandwhentheseedsarrive

webringtheseedsintotheSeedVault.I amresponsibleforall

theseoperations.”

ThisperiodisthebusiestforAsdalandhisteam.Today

[TuesdayFebruary25],representativesfromdozensofgenebanks

aroundtheworldhavetravelledtoSvalbardtomakethebiggest

massdepositsincetheSeedVault’sopening.

Longyearbyen,threekilometresfromtheVault,isthelargest

settlementonSvalbard,feelinglikeanoutpostontheedgeof

theEarth.Inthetown’sculturalcentre,Kulturhuset,international

expertsveryliterallyleadingthefieldofcropdiversityandfood

securityhavecometogetherfora dayoftalksandnetworkingat

theSvalbardSeedSummit.Thetheme:‘Geneticdiversityformore

resilientfoodsystems,’exploringwhatmeasuresneedtobetaken

tosafeguardcropsinthefaceoftheclimatecrisis.

Asdalpresentsthefindingsoflong-termexperimentshe

isconducting.

“Wehavewhatwecallthe100-yearexperiment.Weputseeds

ofNordiccropsintherein 1986 andeveryfifthyearwetakesome

outandtestgermination.

“Seedsdonotlastforever.Youhavetoreplaceoldseedswith

new seeds now and then. That is what gene banks do. Some

On the frozen

archipelago of Svalbard,

halfway between the

north of mainland Norway

and the North Pole, is

the Global Seed Vault.

Cherokee

Nation,USA

4,147miles

Maize,squash

andbeans

RoyalBotanic

Gardens,UK

DistancetoSvalbard:

1,897miles

Depositsinclude:

PrinceCharles’seeds

Myanmar

SeedBank,

Departmentof

Agricultural

Research,

Myanmar

4,664miles

300 typesof

Asianrice

International

RiceResearch

Institute

(IRRI),

Philippines

5,405miles

Morerice

Agricultural

Research

Institute

of Burundi,

Burundi

5,618miles

Pigeonpea,finger

millet,sorghum,

andcowpea

International

Centrefor

Agricultural

Researchin the Dry

Areas(ICARDA),

Moroccoand Lebanon

3,076miles

Chickpeas,barley,sweet

peas,anddurumwheat

International

CropResearch

Institutefor the

Semi-AridTropics

(ICRISAT),India

4,588miles

Pigeonpeas,sorghum,

anda tropicallegume

knownassnout-bean